Man, there have been some great airline mileage promotions recently. Between bonus miles earned on purchased, shared or transferred miles to earning bonus miles when flying select routes, airlines have been giving you more and more reasons to fly their metal and accrue more miles. Combine that with the huge bonuses on branded credit card signups and you’ll have more miles and points than you’ll know what to do with. But is hoarding a ton of airline miles really a good idea?
I'd like to introduce our newest Guest Contributor, Captain Josh Assayag! Josh is a pilot for a major airline and will be the author of the "Ask the Pilot" series.
When I first started this blog, I wanted to bring together a collection of individuals with different backgrounds and unique perspectives to the travel industry. And what better insight could we ask for than from the pilot's perspective!
Now, everyone knows using British Airways (BA) Avios to redeem premium cabin award space on actual BA flights is a terrible idea and should be avoided at all costs. Flying BA metal in/out of London Heathrow will rack up huge taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. There are many posts out there on how to avoid these ridiculous fees such as using BA Avios to redeem domestic American Airlines award flights or awards flights on Aer Lingus and Iberia to get across the Atlantic. It’s rather ironic that BA Avios are better used on their partner airlines than redemption on their own airline. But if the glamour and allure of flying a British Airways flight is just too much to handle and you really insist on flying BA metal, here are some least painful ways to do it.
So who has the best Boeing 737? American or United Airlines?
The Boeing 737-800 flies more flights than any other domestic aircraft and is a solid foundation for the American and United Airlines legacy. And with the new "Sky Interior," this Boeing 787 baby brother is sleek, fuel efficient and offers a better passenger experience. The new Sky Interior offers larger overhead bins that pivot down (as opposed to the fixed bins and latch covers), mood lighting, larger windows and sculpted sidewalls. Now that's the standard package from Boeing. The rest is up to the individual airlines.
Oh Lufthansa, where do I begin with you? On one hand, your First Class product is absolutely amazing. Your efficiency, luxury, lounges and ability to pander to your premium clients are all top notch and leaves little to be desired. But on the other hand, everything else including your Business Class, Economy Class, and service to those passengers, leaves much to be desired.
In this post, I will explain what Global Entry is and why every frequent flyer needs to have it (even if you don’t fly internationally). Global Entry is a program by the US Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) that allows for expedited entry back into the United States when traveling internationally, and in cooperation with the TSA, allows for expedited screening when going through airport security on domestic or international flights.
As a new player in the mileage game, I have finally reached my first milestone in the airline industry, Elite Status ranks. Now, I know this isn't much and there are plenty of you with top tier status in many programs, but this is my first one and I'm actually pretty giddy about it. :-)
I gotta admit, when I first heard of Turkish Airlines, I was a little skeptical about their product and was hesitant to fly them. Not knowing much about them, I just assumed they were along the same quality as Aeroflot or Iberia and I sure as heck did not want to transfer in Istanbul, with all the chaos going on there (most recent suicide bombing at the US Embassy in February 2013). But after doing some research, biting the bullet and booking a round trip flight with them from Los Angeles to Athens, via Istanbul, I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I enjoyed my flights so much that they are now my favorite airline to fly economy to Europe.
In this post, I will discuss some of the major airline's frequent flyer
programs (FFP), their alliances, rewards and benefits and why you should be a
member of their FFP. Which airline FFP you choose will ultimately be
decided by where you live, how much you travel, who's paying for that travel
and where you travel to.
Flight# UA 927 Aircraft: Boeing 747-400 Frankfurt (FRA) to San Francisco (SFO) Depart: 5:25 PM on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Arrive: 8:25 PM Delayed (Same Day) Duration: 11hr 25mn Seat: 16A Business Class (Upper Deck)
I have a love/hate relationship with United Airlines. On one hand, I’m a loyal Star Alliance member and United is the airline that I can have a credit card with and easily rack up miles on domestic and international flights. Their frequent flyer program returns the most bang for your buck and offers the best redemption value. I rack up my miles on domestic flights and credit card purchases and then redeem them for international premium cabins. United miles can be used to book premium cabins on other Star Alliance carriers such as Lufthansa, Swiss Air and others. United Airlines is my personal pick for a frequent flyer program but which one is best for you? Click here for my post on which frequent flyer program you should choose.
At $35/day, this is one of the cheaper airport lounges to get into. But it's also a smaller lounge at a smaller airport so you kinda get what you pay for. There are two lounges, one in terminal one and the other in terminal three. Both locations are about the same size and offer the same amenities but the lounge in terminal three offers showers. Now, don't get too excited. Think less Equinox and more like 24 hour fitness gym individual shower stalls. Nothing to write home to mom about.
Pursued Adventures was created to bring back the love of traveling. Our goal is to provide you with the best and most relevant reviews to make your travel plans the best they can be, to make the “travel” part of your vacation, not just a means to your vacation. We’re not just looking to help you find the cheapest flights but also the best flights, on the best airline, with the best equipment for... your trip. If you’re gonna travel thousand of miles across oceans and spend dozens of hours in an airplane, airport or hotel, let our reviews help you make the most informed decisions to help maximize your trip and make the best stories for you.
Our contributors have collectively dedicated hundreds of hours in airplanes, airports, lounges and destinations and have founded this forum to share our stories with you. We hope you enjoy reading our anecdotes and reviews and share these amazing memories with us. And remember. . . live better stories, one trip at a time.